Act III

The throbbing awoke me. I was lying down, staring at the ceiling. I looked to my left. The lady in the gray suit was sitting on a bench a couple feet from me. Her jacket was wadded up next to her, and she was bent over, her head in her hands. Her hair further obscured her face. I sat up and looked in front of me. In the stark white room was a single door, with a single pane of glass, two inches thick, tempered and criss-crossed with steel wire. "Where are we?" I asked in a raspy voice. She looked up.

"Kind of a holding cell." she replied. "They keep trespassers in here until Lone Star can pick 'em up." She pulled the hair out of her face. "Sorry that you had to get involved in this."

"Don't apologize. I knew the risks before I took the job."

"This your first run?"

"How'd you know?"

"Only people on their first run say that." She said, smiling slightly.

"So what were you doing up there? Why were you recording the murder?" The lady looked at the ceiling and sighed.

"The man who was hanged was the head of this pharmaceutical company. He was under pressure to sell out to a larger corporation for two years from the vice CEO. Finally, he decided to take matters into his own hands and 'retire' him. The 'suicide' would make the vice CEO the new CEO, the new CEO would sell out, and make money hand over fist." She explained, making quote marks with her fingers when appropriate.

"Wouldn't they suspect fowl play?"

"Hardly. They wouldn't suspect anything. They'd just write it up to the wage slave syndrome. One more stiff who couldn't take the pressures of life."

"So why'd you record the event?"

"I assume whoever wanted me to record it was going to use it to prevent the buy out." She sighed and sat back against the wall. "But now it don't look like anything's going to happen. I really don't care who gets killed or who gets away with it, but I kinda wanted to see these guys get caught. You know, a little justice done." A voice came on over a speaker from the upper corner of the room.

"Well kiddies. Lone Star will be here in about five minutes to pick ya up. Have fun in the pokey!" The voice clicked off.

"Dammit! Not again..." She sighed. I smiled slightly.

"No, not again." I said. I jumped up and looked through the window. In the front was a security guard sitting at a desk with his feet up. He had a donut in one hand and a skin magazine in the other. I looked back over my shoulder. "Wanna get out of here?"

"Hell yes."

"Cool. Get ready." I stared at him through the glass and began to cast a most difficult spell. To influence someone, to nudge their thinking to your favor is one thing. To actually control their thoughts and actions is another. Most students at the University who practiced this usually ended up in the doctor's office for the afternoon from the amount of fatigue inflicted by it, myself included on one occasion. I clinched my teeth and begun.

It was a shoving match; my mind against his. Immediately I felt like dropping to the ground and passing out. My muscles ached, but I continued. Shoving harder and harder against him. Slowly, steadily pushing his will back and urging him to walk forward. The security guard began to get up and walk towards the door. As he reached for his keys, he shoved back against me hard. But I continued pushing. He unlocked the door, and pulled it open. It took all my concentration to step to the side without losing the spell. The security guard entered, shuffling his feet, his face frozen, almost as if he was terrified.

"I'm out! C'mon!" She exclaimed. I gave in. I let his mind go as I dropped the spell. The security guard and I both stood inside the cell stunned by the sudden rush of free will. I was so drained I could only stand there. He, on the other hand, began to come around and stumbled back to the door. The lady grabbed me and pulled me out of the room and slammed the door. I could see the security guard's face yelling silently in the glass.

"I can't believe it!" She exclaimed. "That was incredible!" She hugged me hard. I was still dizzy from the spell. I shook my head and tried to get a grip on things. I began to get my orientation back, the fatigue gave way to a second wind. A yawn was the only negative result from the spell. But I couldn't breathe.

"Uh, you can let go..." I gasped. She did. Her face was beaming.

"Leon!" A radio screamed on the desk. "Pick up the goddamned radio!" We looked at each other for a second. She picked up the radio and turned the channel dial halfway between channels three and four. Then she handed it to me.

"Leon. Go ahead." I said.

"What in the hell's the matter with you unit?" the voice on the other side asked. "I'm getting a hell of a lotta static."

"Got me. What's up?"

"Where were you?"

"Taking a whiz. What's up?"

"You call Lone Star yet?"

"Yeah. They were already here."

"Oh yeah?"

"Sure. How are things on that end?"

"Fine now. Me and the guys are gonna take off. Have fun with the graveyard shift."

"Can do." I replied. The radio went dead.

"It seems we can get out of here now." I said.

"Nope. I've gotta get my video back. I'm getting paid for that." She said. She rooted through the desk drawers, pulling her confiscated guns out. "You oughta get one of your own. Plenty to go around!" I looked in the drawer. She was right. It looked like an evidence lock up at a police station, or maybe Bones' closet.

"No thanks. Let's go after our stuff and get out of here." I said. Right before we left the room, she turned to me.

"Before we head out..." She extended her hand. "I'm Circumstance."

"Charmed. I'm Fletch." I shook her hand, a little surprised at the firmness of her grip.

"Oh! I love your movies." She smiled. We left the office. She was in front, her gun out, and I followed close behind. We were back on the bottom floor. It was barren. The security guards must have left for the night. I followed her straight upstairs again, and back into the office we originally met. She lifted a panel in the ceiling and jumped in. She helped me in and we climbed a ladder to the other end of the duct where we were caught. Inside the office the poor guy still dangling from the rope, the British gentleman sitting at the desk, obviously caring little about him, and the two other men, standing on either side with black assault rifles. The Brit was looking though papers and talking on the phone.

"And I say you're a mewling coward. Of course it's going to work!" The Brit yelled into the phone. The speaker was on.

"So you're not going to tell the rest of us you've moved the date up?" The voice asked from the other end of the phone. It sounded like my employer.

"I didn't tell you because I knew this was the reaction I'd get."

"I hired a guy to go after the documents you stole. Dammit, if you told us, I wouldn't have had to."

"Really? I'm flattered. Who was it?"

"Oh, young kid. Wizard, about as tall as I am."

"Was that him? Bloody hell! I bashed him over the head, now Lone Star has him."

"You owe me three thousand nuyen, prick. Three thousand! Not everyone is as financially secure as you."

"You'll have that and more once this is over. Now help me come up with a feasible suicide note. 'Goodbye, cruel world', or something like that…" They continued to chat.

"Okay. So how do we get the stuff we came after?" I asked Circumstance.

"Can't you make one shoot the other?" Circumstance asked.

"Nope. Way too hard. My brain would explode." I explained. "But I could try to nail 'em with stun spells."

"Don't you know a spell with some teeth on it?"

"Never needed to." I said, smiling.

"Looks like the direct approach again." She said, and dove into the vent. Before she hit the floor, before anyone could react, she fired her gun three times, hitting the man on the left in the head. When she hit the ground, she jumped and dove to the left to hide behind a shelf. The other man lowered his rifle to sight, but I stunned him before he could take aim. He lost his grip on his gun, spraying the ceiling with bullets. A line of holes punched past me, leaving pillars of light behind. He grabbed the rifle again, but Circumstance plugged him three times in the side. He fell against the wall, screaming in pain, then fell silent. The Brit was still sitting as he was, as if nothing happened. He still sat reclined in the large office chair.

"Excuse me." He said. "I'll call you back." Circumstance swung her gun at him, but a shot rang out from under the desk, striking the gun and knocking it from her hand. He stood up with a gun similar to Circumstance's and shot her in the leg. She yelped in surprise, and my stomach twisted. He came around the desk, and shot her again in the same leg. Same yelp, making my stomach twist twice as hard.

"Circumstance, is it now?" He asked, approaching her. Once again, he fired a slug in her leg. Now she started to sniffle, trying not to show her pain. He was right next to her now. He crouched next to her. "Why? Are you hoping to make me a 'victim of circumstance'? Hmmm? That's pretty cute." He raised his gun to her head.

"No!" I screamed. I jumped down the vent. In a flash, he raised the gun behind his back and intercepted me in midair. I felt the slug slam into the side of my chest, but I also felt it bounce off. When I hit the floor, I scrambled to the assault rifle the dead man dropped and hid behind the desk. A shot penetrated and whizzed past my ear. I grunted in agony from the hit on my side. It felt like one of my ribs had busted.

"And who is this lad? Hmmm?" He fired another shot, once again breezing past my head. I fired the rifle straight into the desk, nearly unloading the entire clip. The digital display on the back of the gun said I had four shots left. I turned invisible, but since my condition wasn't ideal to cast a spell, I paid heavily for it. My head hurt like nothing else.

"He's not a bad shot, I'll give him that." I looked up above the desk. I hit him. There was no doubt of that. As a matter of fact, I should have sawed him in half. His shirt and jacket were shredded around his stomach and blood poured out like water from a faucet. And yet he stood. "You two should make a fine pair, eh?"

"Dammit, Dad, I'm not dating him! You son of a bitch!" Circumstance screamed, tears rolling down her face. The gentleman turned.

"My dearest daughter! Why couldn't you just learn to love me like Mom did?" He raised the gun again. I stood and fired the remaining four bullets at the back of his head. I missed by a full yard. He just stood there for a second, like he was contemplating something. He turned around. Before I could even flinch, he fired at me. But the shot never hit me. It hit the rifle I was carrying. Then the gentleman just stood there. A trickle of blood streamed from his eye. Then he dropped.

"Fletch! You there?" Circumstance called. I dropped my spell and the gun. My side burned like crazy. I saw a patch of red in the gray suit. My head ached just as bad. I went over to the body of Circumstance's father. It seems that the shot that killed him was meant for me. It ricocheted off the rifle and struck him in the eye. Talk about a long shot. Circumstance crawled over and reached into his shirt pocket, extracting the video chip.

"Bastard." she grunted and slapped his face. I went to the desk. Apparently, the Brit was looking at the exact files I came to get. The names and dates on the header matched what Mr. J. said. They were detailed plans for a takeover.

"Holy..." I said. "These are it. I did it."

"What?" Circumstance asked, pulling herself up to the desk. She examined the files on the desk as well. She opened her mouth slightly.

"Is this what you came for?" she asked.

"Seems so."

"Are you particularly loyal to this person you're retrieving these for?" Circumstance asked. Then it hit me. The guy I was retrieving these for and the dead gentlemen on the floor were working together.

"Not any more."

"I can guarantee you'll get much more for these documents if you sell them to my employer."

"Let's talk business later. We need to get out of here." I said. I picked up the phone on the desk and punched in a few numbers. "Please be there, dammit." I whispered under my breath.

"Yello? Ahmed's Harem?" Bones' voice replied from the speaker phone.

"Bones!"

"Felix?"

"Yeah! Dammit, I need a getaway driver."

"Now?"

"Yes, you son of a bitch! Now!" I nearly screamed, shocked he'd even ask.

"Okay, okay. Where you at?"

"Blue-Atkins Pharmaceutical building. One out on Nineteenth Street. The delivery alley." Circumstance interjected.

"Cool. See you in five."

"Make it one." I said. I could hear a few voices in the background. Bones was having his function, and since I called my apartment, I knew I'd have to buy garbage bags and air freshener in the morning. Circumstance hobbled over to the window. If I had to judge by her face alone, I would have never known she was just shot in the leg three times; she was as cool as a professional. Maybe she was? She opened it and found the spring-loaded cable pulley on the side of the building that acted as the fire escape. She pulled it down, put the handle on her good foot, and began to step out. That's when the door burst open. Lone Star spewed forth, guns and flashlights drawn. I wasn't going to wait for the return trip on the fire escape. I grabbed the files, grabbed her and jumped out the window as the well-known triple popping sound of Lone Star standard issue pistols followed us into the night sky. I expected Circumstance's foot to hold. It didn't.

I looked down to see what we'd wind up landing on and saw a window slightly cracked one floor below; a flaw in the gigantic jewelry box. With Circumstance holding on to my waist, I let go of her and grabbed for the edge. Much to my surprise, I actually held on. Circumstance slipped down and stopped at my ankles. The rest of her body whipped downward and kicked out the window below. Without pause, she scrambled straight up my back and into the office above. As soon as she hit the floor, she grabbed me by the back of my jacket and yanked me inside. While I was still in flight into the office, the officers above opened fire into the alley, giving the poor dumpster below what for. Coincidentally, half a block away, a car peeled out and shot down the street.

"There they go! Move it!" One officer ordered from above. They ran from the office and right past the one Circumstance and I were in. A quarter of a minute later, sirens screamed after the car. Then silence.

"I can't believe our luck." I said, lying on the floor, holding the wound on my head.

"What?" Circumstance asked, keeping low next to the window, keeping watch. Her gun was drawn, pointed at the ceiling and resting on her cheek.

"How many of these windows are open?"

"I opened this one when I came in." Circumstance explained.

"A little high off the ground, eh?"

"I couldn't very well have come in the front door, could I?" She asked. I decided to keep my comment to myself.